krisberic

Should the electric brake pump prime when you turn ignition on and after a few presses of pedal, the reason i ask is on me old sapph it did but on me escos it doesn't but brakes work fine. Also wot could cause me handbrake to be babba, cable is adjusted ok but it dosent hold very well

ECOS95

The pump should prime with the ignition on & the ABS light should go off in under 30sec to show the pressure has built up in the system. If the car has been driven it doesn't take as long to prime compared to being left over night.

The handbrake could be down to a stuck caliper maybe.

krisberic

Is there a relay that makes it operate, it dosent prime but abs light goes out as normal

ECOS95

How long does the light come on for first thing in the morning. Mine takes 20 ish seconds to go out. If the light goes out then it should be fine I'd of thought.

Not sure about a relay that controls it.

tabetha

If it doesn't prime then that is because it has enoguh pressure built up already, from when it was last on, if it did not develop pressure you would know as the brakes are pretty much(but not quite) non existent.
The abs light going out shows it has enough pressure as it is linked in to the pressure side of things as well.
Maybe just have a very quiet pump ?
tabetha

dojj

iTrader: (3)

the orange abs light has nothing to do with the pressure side of the system
the orange one in the centre of the dash tells you that the system has self tested ok and the sensors etc are al working as they should be etc etc

the red handbrake light tells you there is a pressure leak in the system or it's over pressurising

the normal causes of it taking longer to prime is the age of the brake fluid

but, as with most cars nowadays, the vintage of the cosworh means that there may be some electrical gremlins at work or the pressure switch may be faulty or even the pump itself may not be able to generate enough omph to pressurise the system sufficiently

when you drive and use the brakes does the pedal feel really spongey or does it feel rock hard?

ECOS95

That would make sense as both the yellow & red lights generally go off at the same time after the car has been left for some time.

Learn something new every day.

krisberic

The brakes feel normal, quite keen, simmillar to me sapph. The only thing different is the pump doesnt seem to work. With the engine off and ignition on i can pump the pedal loads of times and no pump sound. But i can feel a slight kick in the pedal when pressed. THe lights go out as normal allthough the abs light came on and off a few times when i first got the car about 3mths ago but hasnt come on again, it was a wet few days so i put it own to that.

tabetha

Sorry I was sure I read the ABS light came on with low pressure!!
tabetha

dojj

iTrader: (3)

nope, there are 2 seperate warnings, one for the pressure you can exert through the pedal and one for the ability of the anti lock gubbings to be working

sometimes they do both come on together, and sometimes niether comes on and there is a definiate fault

it's a complicated set up but it does work well for at least 99% of the time